The Hindu : National : BJP eyes ‘third front’ parties as post-poll partners

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BJP eyes ‘third front’ parties as post-poll partners

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has said the so-called “third front,” is a “no front” that can only spell political instability.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Deve Gowda, preparing to host the launching of this front in Tumkur, has only to look back to see what happened to the polity when he was Prime Minister.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad made it clear that while the “third front” would spell disaster for the country, he would not rule out some help coming to the National Democratic Alliance from some of these parties in the post-poll situation.

“Not an alternative”

“The third front is no alternative to the United Progressive Alliance. That alternative is the National Democratic Alliance. The third front is a no front,” Mr. Prasad said.

However, he was willing to concede that in the event of the NDA failing to get a majority on its own, “some of the parties in the third front would come towards us, provided we are ahead of the UPA in numbers.”

While keeping up the stance of political correctness and refusing to name parties, Mr. Prasad threw enough hints to suggest that the Telugu Desam Party, which supported the NDA in 1999, and the All-India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which “shares the BJP’s ideology on most issues,” could come the NDA’s way.

Several weeks earlier, BJP president Rajnath Singh also hinted that mandate 2009 might not be clear and “post poll alliances” might have to be made.

Senior party leaders are hopeful that the three new alliances the BJP has made — Asom Gana Parishad in Assam, the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana and the Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh — could together take up the NDA tally by about 20 Lok Sabha seats, with the BJP gaining 10 and the three allies totalling 10 to 12 seats. But even these may not help the NDA cross the magic mark of 273 seats.

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